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Science & Technology

Is the universe riding on an expanding bubble ?

By T.K. Randall
January 4, 2019 · Comment icon 11 comments

Could this be the true nature of the universe ? Image Credit: Casey Reed - Penn State University
A new theory has proposed that our universe is riding on the edge of an expanding bubble in an extra dimension.
Back in the 1990s, three astronomers made a fundamental discovery about the expansion of the universe that would go on to not only win them a Nobel Prize, but would also cement the idea that the expansion of the universe is accelerating - a process driven by the mysterious 'dark energy'.

Understanding the mechanics of this expansion however, as well as the nature of dark energy, has proven to be a major challenge, with physicists mulling over numerous possible theories.

The most recent, which has been put forward by theoretical physicists at Uppsala University in Sweden, suggests that the universe exists on the edge of an expanding bubble filled with dark energy and that all existing matter corresponds to the ends of strings that extend in to another dimension.
This theory also opens the door to the existence of other bubbles corresponding to other universes.

"One might wonder about the stability of the universe on top of the shell," the researchers wrote. "An obvious decay channel would be another bubble of true vacuum nucleating on top of the shell."

"However, this decay channel seems to be absent, giving a strong indication in favor of the stability of these bubbles. We intend to analyze the issue of stability in detail in an upcoming work."

Source: EurekAlert.org | Comments (11)




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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #2 Posted by Seti42 5 years ago
Sounds like a hypothesis I had back in college when I did a lot of LSD one day. No math to back it up, obviously though.
Comment icon #3 Posted by Robotic Jew 5 years ago
Sure. Why not?
Comment icon #4 Posted by Nnicolette 5 years ago
Im not so sure about the bubble but i think they are on the right track when they realized our matter isn't the entirety of the strings, but rather one dimension they are expressed in. I think this theory will become more distinguishable when we start working to understand the construction of matter and the other phases it can be expressed in beyond our visual perception. We will also start to realize how mind boggling much more there is than just the part of the universe we interact with and see visually. I wonder if a good way to start is further studies on animals that dont see the same way... [More]
Comment icon #5 Posted by Tatetopa 5 years ago
At this point, a theory is proposed.  What comes next is testing.  If the universe is on the surface of a bubble, what would that look like in the physical laws that we already know?  Does it explain something we don't know yet?  Can we test it?  If not, it sinks back into the bubble. It doesn't matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn't matter how smart you are. If it doesn't agree with experiment, it's wrong. Richard P. Feynman  
Comment icon #6 Posted by godnodog 5 years ago
I propose that instead of a bubble we use a popstickle
Comment icon #7 Posted by OverSword 5 years ago
Meh
Comment icon #8 Posted by fred_mc 5 years ago
It doesn't sound that revolutionary to me. I think I've read similar things before. Besides, it is said that space-time itself is expanding, that is why galaxies can move apart from each other even if they were not moving themselves. How could space-time expand if there weren't extra dimensions that it could expand into? That makes the idea of us living on the surface of an expanding 4D-sphere a pretty natural idea I think.
Comment icon #9 Posted by Ogbin 5 years ago
Theories on the creation of the universe, other dimensions, and anything else along these lines, I have always found somewhat interesting and entertaining. But at the end of the day this is just another theory being tossed into the Sea of Theories. This theory will also, just like most of those before it, end up on the shelf of 'Most likely will never be proven', where it will sit for a very long time to come, if not for ever. I know that the search of understanding is looking for that one fixed truth of how all became and is. But how many theories do we put need on the shelf before it co... [More]
Comment icon #10 Posted by Jon the frog 5 years ago
Universe i don't know, but our model of capitalism yes...
Comment icon #11 Posted by MisterMan 5 years ago
OK, so that means that our whole solar system could be like one tiny atom in the fingernail of some other giant being.


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